


only time's ours

by rarepairenabler



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Swimming, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 20:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10861380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarepairenabler/pseuds/rarepairenabler
Summary: It’s the hottest day of the summer and Shirabu fully intends to spend it indoors with his fan set to full blast.But apparently fate has other plans.“—C’mon Shirabu! The whole team’s goin’ swimming!”Fate, in this case, is tall redhead with long, noodly limbs and a grin that splits his face.





	only time's ours

**Author's Note:**

> My fic for the shiratorizawa zine! The title is from Ben Howard's "I forget where we were" but I also considered calling it Paradise Lost but. y'know

Shirabu’s clothes feel damp against his skin, the thin scratchy material of his bedsheets clinging to his thighs as he groans out a tired sigh. It’s the hottest day of the summer and Shirabu intends to spend it indoors with his fan set to full blast.

But apparently fate has other plans.

“—C’mon Shirabu! The whole team’s goin’ swimming!”

Fate, in this case, is tall redhead with long, noodly limbs and a grin that splits his face.  
Shirabu tries to glare at Tendou but even that takes more effort than he can muster. Instead, he makes a noise of protest and rolls onto his side.

“Nice try, but that’s not gonna work.” Tendou ducks down and drags Shirabu out of bed, dodging Shirabu’s kicks. He smiles in satisfaction. “There, now you’re up! I’ll give ya a few minutes to get changed into your swimsuit!”

“M’gonna _kill_ you,” mutters Shirabu. Not now, though. He can hardly _stand_ , let alone throttle his obnoxious teammate.

Tendou winks and shuts the door behind him. “You’ll thank me later!” he yells from the other side.

Shirabu doesn’t even bother questioning how Tendou got into his room.

~*~

Shirabu waves at his teammates as he comes out the dorm residence holding his towel and sunscreen. The parking lot’s as empty and barren as a desert, the oppressive heat making Shirabu feel like an omelet sizzling in frying pan.

“ _Told_ you he’d come,” Tendou says, grinning smugly.

“And I’m already regretting it.” Shirabu glances around at his teammates – Semi’s wearing oversized shades and a floppy hat; Tendou’s got on a loose tank top and Naruto-themed swim trunks; Yamagata’s holding a giant inflatable shark, his toes wiggling in his Adidas flip-flops. Kawanishi, Goshiki and Reon are leaning against Ushijima’s car. “Where’s Wakatoshi-san?”

“Jogging,” Reon answers. “He should be back soon.”

“In _this_ heat?” How is their captain even human? God. It’s a good thing they don’t have practice, or their coach would probably have them running laps.

“Tsutomu tried to run after him,” Reon adds, “but we talked him out of it just in time.”

Face turning red, Goshiki protests, “I can keep up!”

Shirabu rolls his eyes. “Don’t be stupid. You’d give yourself a stroke.”

Their captain strides over to them a moment later, wearing only his red swim shorts and a beach towel that’s draped over his broad shoulders. There’s not a single bead of sweat on his forehead. The team turns their attention to his bare chest, all of them staring.

Shirabu swallows. _How can he be real?_ he demands silently, for the second time that day.

“Wakatoshi, hey! You look…” Semi averts his eyes, with some difficulty.

“Hot,” Tendou finishes, whistling.

“Of course I do.” Ushijima frowns. “It is summer, and we are in the middle of a heat wave.”

Tendou snorts. “Okay, we’re all here then! Let’s get the show on the road then, shall we? Whoever can’t fit in my car can ride with Wakatoshi.”

~*~

The sun bears down on them with all the vindictiveness of a middle schooler gleefully searing ants beneath the glare of their magnifying glass. Shirabu feels like he can feel every bump and pit of the beaten dirt trail as he’s jerked to the left, then the right, then forward. The car’s engine rattles in dissent when Tendou grins and floors it right over another groove.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Goshiki whines, on his left side.

Shirabu puts as much space between them as possible. “Puke outside the car please.”

“And we’re here!” Tendou announces, pointing out at the lake.

“No thanks to your driving,” Kawanishi mutters as Tendou stops the car and the four of them in the backseat slam forward.

With a dizzy groan, Shirabu clambers out of his seat.

There’s a coastline of swaying trees, rustling green leaves and snowy mountains reflected in the clear, rippling lake. For a moment, Shirabu forgets that he’d fought against this. He takes a breath, welcomes the soft breeze against his skin, and imagines how good it’ll feel to dip his toes in the water.

Just as Ushijima’s minivan pulls up next to Tendou’s, Tendou sheds his shirt and charges towards the water in long strides, his feet pounding against the dirt. He leaps up, grabs the weathered rope swing and howls out a cheer as he glides across the lake. When Tendou lets go, he drops like a brick. The splash echoes through the clearing like a slap.

Semi and Reon share a concerned look.

Reon cocks his head. “Is he gonna be okay?”

Tendou resurges a moment later, his red hair slicked down across his eyes. He cackles and shakes the water from his hair, splashing Shirabu in the process. “Whatcha waiting for?”

Yamagata’s lips curl up into a relieved grin.

He sets the cooler down, tugs his shirt off and charges towards the water, dust collecting behind him in a cloud. With even less grace than Tendou, he cannonballs into the lake. For the second time, a wave of droplets surges up and splatter Shirabu in the face.

 _It’s going to be a long day_ , Shirabu thinks as he wrings the water from his shirt.

~*~

Shirabu watches Ushijima as he crosses the lake in powerful, confident strokes. Goshiki paddles after him, a ridiculous inflatable duck around his waist.

“I’m done,” Kawanishi says as he finishes smearing the last dollop of sunscreen between the blades of Shirabu’s shoulders.

Tendou grins, the water splashing around him as he waves. “Do me next, Taichi!” His eyes narrow when he sees Shirabu make a face. “You’re gonna stay over there all day, are ya?”

Shirabu shrugs. The water would probably be the perfect reprieve from the day’s smothering warmth, but joining Tendou feels too much like admitting defeat.

“Tch.” With a crooked, toothy smirk, Tendou rises from the lake like some sort of lagoon monster. “Guess I’ve got no choice then.”

“Don’t you _dare._ ”

Tendou’s eyes gleam. He pounces forward, wraps an arm around Shirabu’s lower back and tosses him into the lake before Shirabu’s even given the chance to wriggle free. With a cackle, Tendou jumps in after him.

Shirabu pushes to the surface of the water and grimaces at the taste of seaweed in his mouth. “You’re such an ass.” He shoves at Tendou. “I hate you.” But there’s no heat behind his words as he continues treading water.

“Pfft, sure. Admit it, you looove us,” croons Tendou. “Even Tsutomu.”

Shirabu flushes. “I _tolerate_ Tsutomu. And barely, at that.”

Tendou’s right though, damn it. Shirabu would never say it aloud, but even their wannabe ace has his admirable traits. Goshiki’s…earnest, passionate, determined. But the last thing he wants is to feed Goshiki’s already cosmic-sized ego.

Tendou grins like he can read Shirabu's thoughts.

Truthfully, Shirabu's not confidently certain that he can't.

Shirabu frowns at him. "What's with you today, anyway? Couldn’t you have just let me stay in bed?"

Tendou cocks his head to the side and hums, the cool water rippling around him. "We haven't all hung outside of practice since paintball."

Shirabu smirks at the memory. Ushijima had approached the game with military-like seriousness and ‘politely’ offered their opponents a chance to surrender to ‘protect themselves from the indignity of inevitable defeat.’ Meanwhile, Tendou had insisted on giving each of them code names. It'd been a good day.

"And," Tendou continues, "we don't have many chances left to hang out before graduation, y'know?"

"Oh."

 _I'm going to miss you too_ , Shirabu thinks.

But the words get lodged halfway up his throat, so instead he rolls his eyes and nudges Tendou in the side. "I _guess_ I can understand that."

The cold water laps against Shirabu, a gentle tide that presses against him with the steady rhythm of the rise and fall of his chest. Reon floats past on his back. Yamagata and Tendou laugh and swat at each other with pastel colored floaties, while Semi and Kawanishi bump a volleyball back and forth.

"No volleyball allowed on our day off," Reon chastises but it's not long before they're dividing themselves into two teams.

It's not long before the sun starts to sink, the sky above them painted with light. Pink, orange and gold streak the skies, the color spilling across the lake, drenching everything in warm, vibrant color.

While everyone else gets out of the water to eat the bentos Reon had packed, Tendou swims over and drapes himself over Shirabu's shoulder like a skinny redheaded string of seaweed. "Was I right or was I _right?_ " He waggles his brows, lips stretching into a smug grin. "Today was awesome - I wanna hear ya say it." Tendou curls his hand around his ear and pointedly waits.

"Fine. _You were right_ ," Shirabu admits. "Today's been nice."

Then he smirks and dunks Tendou's head water, snickering at his teammate’s squawk as Tendou goes under.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man I wrote this forever ago
> 
> Listen guys, I'm sorry :/ I know I haven't been updating stuff lately and some of you may be wondering if I've abandoned my WIPs and I haven't, it's just that usually anxiety pushes me through to getting things done but lately I've been tired and sad and demotivated,,apparently in the game of rock-paper-scissor for my metal health, sad beats out anxiety so rather than write, I really just feel like napping all the time. I do hope that things improve and that I can get back to posting things soon but I can't say when that'll be :(
> 
> Anyways, thank you Becky, Megan, Amanda, Nat, and a bunch of others for looking over this for me. You guys are the best
> 
> [Tumblr](http://tobioslilgiant.tumblr.com/) l [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ambyguity_)


End file.
